Based on changes of the Decree on bodies within ministries, the competence to perform administrative tasks in the field of environmental protection and professional and administrative tasks in the field of nature conservation, except for administrative and professional tasks related to responsibility for prevention or remediation of environmental damage, have been transferred from the Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia to the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning.
How does this affect administrative procedures in place?
Due to these organizational changes, which were carried out on 1 September 2021, all applications with which administrative procedures in the field of environmental protection and nature conservation are initiated, must be addressed to the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning. Administrative procedures that began before 31 August 2021 will be finished by the Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia. This means that any amendments to applications and other documents related to these administrative procedures still need to be addressed to the Environmental Agency.
Reports on the first measurements of emissions into the air, water, noise, reports on performed operational monitoring, reports on waste management and some other reports (based on the environmental permits and environmental protection regulations) still need to be submitted to the Environmental Agency.
What does this mean for the investors, plan producers and operators of the installations?
An important impact of these organizational changes is the elimination of two-stage decision-making. This means there is one less appeal procedure that could be initiated by the participants in the proceedings and decisions can be challenged only in court in the administrative dispute. In practice, this will lead to faster completion of administrative procedures and lower costs for investors, plan producers and operators of the installations.
The information in this document does not constitute legal advice on any particular matter and is provided for general informational purposes only.
By Vesna Lozak Polanec, Attorney at law, Ketler & Partners, member of Karanovic & Partners
